was gonna post this in the general forum but the place is a minefield at the moment after the hatton-mayweather fight, i'd only get a load of spamming nonsense. simple question really, what were the reasons for lennox lewis to turn his back on canada and fight under the british flag? anyone know? :huh
Because there was more future there in terms of boxing. I don't think that was the only reason though, i'll have to get back at you for that one.
i suspected that was the why he did it, but wanted to know if there were any definite/confirmed reasons.
As far as I know, the thinking was it would be easier to gain a high profile as a British heavyweight fighter than a Canadian one. From a marketing viewpoint, it made sense. It gave him a bit of an extra gimmick to get notice. That's how it was originally, although things changed over time (especially after the McCall loss).
I dunno Lewis was such a private guy I dont know if it was for profile. Just as simple as that he was born in the UK perhaps ? Has anyone out there read his book ?
One book i read titled "facing Ali" briefly mentions that Chuvalo was one of Canadas better heavyweights and mentions that Lewis pursued British identity for "commerical reasons"
Well Lewis was Born in Britain, his parents where British he considers himself as being British. If Lewis recognises himself as a Brit then he's a Brit.
I dunno, as a Canadian I certainly wished he would have either remained in Canada or at least like Gatti, identified himself more with Canada. When he was younger I think he moved to Canada against his will, (his mother wanted him to move here) and that may have had something to do with it, especially if he had an accent, he likely would have been labelled a Brit in school. Economically I think Canada being so close to the States would have been more economically viable to either have stayed in Canada or moved to the US. His moving to Ontario instead of Vancouver, may have made the difference..lol
Bowe and Mercer were big post Olympics; Lewis could of joined them and been considered an 'American'. But Maloney sold him on a gap in the market. Boxing was big in Britain probably second only to Football at the time, but it had a problem, it had not had a Heavyweight Cahmpion of the World for nearly 100 years... If Frank Bruno and Sir 'enry could become household names on their achievements, imagine what potential an actual legitmate threat to THE Championship could be? Lewis saw the vision took the (lesser) financial deal the 'mental midget' was offering, became a happy hammer, and in the end his gamble (if not his Eastend accent) paid off.
Anybody who lived in Britain at the time would understand why it made sense financialy. Britain offered a platform that Canada could not.
Well he was born in London, his mother went to Canada when he was 8, leaving him in London with family where he got into trouble and expelled from school so by age 11 his mother sent for him to leave England and join her in Canada. Why shouldnt he go back to England? He holds dual nationality and its not as if he just decided to represent Britain without having any ties in the way Greg Rusedski did in tennis.
